Its ideal audience falls between Peele\u2019s adult-oriented fare \u2014 Get Out<\/em>, Us<\/em>, and Nope<\/em> \u2014 and Selick\u2019s kid-friendly movies \u2014 The Nightmare Before Christmas<\/em>, James and the Giant Peach<\/em>, and Coraline<\/em>. That viewer is probably about the age of Wendell & Wild<\/em>\u2019s protagonist, troubled teenager Kat (voiced by Lyric Ross). After witnessing the death of her parents as a child, she has been shuttled throughout the system before finally landing at Rust Bank Catholic. As the head of the formerly posh boarding school, Father Level Bests (James Hong) is happy to take money from the \u201cBreak the Cycle\u201d program for accepting Kat as a student. Her classmates are friendly, but Kat keeps herself walled off from close connection because of the demons of her painful past. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Yet literal demons plague Kat, too. Wendell (Keegan-Michael Key) and Wild (Peele) are desperate to escape the underworld, where they spend their nights living in the nostrils of giant devil Belzer (Ving Rhames) and their days planting fresh hair plugs on his scalp and getting high off eating his hair cream. (Just \u2026 go with it.) Chosen as their \u201chell maiden,\u201d Kat reluctantly agrees to summon them to the land of the living if they can grant her the one thing she truly wants. <\/p>\n\n\n\n In press notes, Selick adorably grouses, \u201cDespite no sex, very little violence, and nothing stronger than damn and hell, our film is rated PG-13. My theory? Our film is so original it scared the bejeebers out of the ratings board.\u201d He\u2019s not wrong about the film\u2019s content, but Wendell & Wild<\/em> oozes a darkness rarely present in films for kids or even young teens. This movie takes a step beyond the gleeful gloom of Coraline<\/em> and The Nightmare Before Christmas<\/em> in its themes and some elements of its plot. It\u2019s geared toward a slightly older audience, who aren\u2019t often the target demo for animated films \u2014 or films in general. They deserve something unique if they\u2019ve outgrown movies for younger kids and aren\u2019t yet ready for the gore of grown-up horror.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Wendell & Wild<\/em> does tackle serious themes, beginning in its startling early scene with the death of Kat\u2019s parents. The trauma and guilt linger years later (along with panic attacks), hardening Kat into a resilient young woman. Selick and Peele\u2019s screenplay comments on the power of the past and the value of being able to move beyond it. Though often macabre, Wendell & Wild<\/em> avoids being too grim, offering pleasures in its goofy, gross-out humor and marvelously detailed animation. The stop-motion technique allows for a texture beyond even what the best CG-animated films can offer. You look with wonder at a nubby school blazer and a fuzzy teddy bear \u2014 and then with queasy horror at how well they\u2019ve captured the glistening gelatinous nature of snot. <\/p>\n\n\n\n For all its disgusting delights, Wendell & Wild<\/em> loses a bit of juice by the time it gets to its third act. Though based on a short story by Selick and Clay McLeod Chapman, it\u2019s sprawling, ambitious, and a bit overstuffed at 100-plus minutes, feeling more like it was distilled from something much longer. It\u2019s hard to get too bored with the wild images on screen, but the script could\u2019ve been better paced to keep both teens and adults (and brave kids) engaged throughout the running time. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Wendell & Wild <\/em>marks the long-awaited reunion between the brains behind the beloved sketch show Key and Peele<\/em>, and it\u2019s great fun to see (hear) these two long-time collaborators working together again. Similarly, Selick\u2019s previous film, Coraline<\/em>, was over a decade ago, making this one feel like a rare gift. Stop-motion movies \u2014 and films this bizarre \u2014 aren\u2019t easy to get made. Wendell & Wild<\/em> is something special: a little messy, but so weird and wonderful.<\/p>\n\n\n\n “Wendell & Wild” is out now in limited release and on Netflix<\/a> Friday.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/crookedmarquee.com\/stage8\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/wendell2-1024x576.jpg\")
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